Beijing, Seoul rip ASDF chief essay

China and South Korea lambasted fired Air Self-Defense Force chief Gen. Toshio Tamogami on Saturday for writing an essay denying that Japan waged a war of aggression on other Asian countries before and during World War II, terming the piece a "distortion of history."

Toshio Tamogami

The Chinese government expressed "shock and anger" that a senior Self-Defense Force officer sought to justify Japan's wartime policy. The South Korean government accused Tamogami of defending "past wrongdoings."

The essay was made public Friday by hotel and condominium developer Apa Group, which announced Tamogami had won the ¥3 million grand prize in its essay competition.

In a complaint lodged a day after Tamogami was fired over the incident, Jiang Yu, a deputy spokesman in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a statement that "it was shocked and angry that a senior Japanese SDF officer publicly distorted history and glorified Japan's invasion."

The spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the essay "cheated historical truths" and condemned Tamogami's views, but did not hold the Japanese government responsible.

The dismissal made Tamogami the first top-ranking SDF officer to be fired for publicly stating a personal opinion since 1978, when then SDF chief Gen. Hiroomi Kurisu was sacked for saying the SDF could take extralegal action in emergencies.

The Japanese government told South Korea through its embassy in Tokyo that the essay reflects Tamogami's personal views, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday.

Japan also said that its stance had not changed since the 1995 Murayama statement, and that Tokyo hopes the incident will not damage relations between the two nations, Yonhap said.

The opposition parties criticized the controversial essay.

"It will be a big mistake if Prime Minister Aso thinks this is over after sacking him," DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said in a speech in Chiba Prefecture on Saturday.

"The entire government" has to take responsibility for Tamogami's claims, Hatoyama said.

Meanwhile, Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said she feels that the ever-expanding overseas role the SDF is playing is partially responsible for spreading a belief within the Defense Ministry that Japan's wartime acts did not constitute aggression.

Fukushima said she planned to grill the government on the issue at the Upper House defense committee when members meet to consider legislation on extending the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.

In the essay, Tamogami, 60, said Japan's actions before and during the war did not amount to aggression and called for authorizing Japan's use of the right to collective self-defense, an action banned under the government's interpretation of the Constitution.

Successive Japanese administrations have supported the 1995 statement made by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stating that Japan inflicted tremendous damage and suffering on Asian and other countries "through its colonial rule and aggression."

In a Diet session held shortly after taking office in September, Prime Minister Taro Aso said he supports the Murayama statement.

The officer's essay was titled, "Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?"

Tamogami, known for making controversial remarks since he became ASDF chief in March 2007, wrote that it is false to accuse Japan of having been an aggressor nation before and during the war.

He described Japan as "a victim" that had been drawn into the Sino-Japanese War by Chiang Kai-shek, who led the Chinese Nationalist Party.